Summary

Next week the first of three major satellites to be launched under NASA's controversial Earth Observing System program is scheduled to head into orbit. The 10-year, $7.25 billion program will gather data on how the planet's processes create climate and whether humans are seriously altering those processes. Along the way, NASA officials also hope to quiet concerns from scientists that the agency has gone too far in favoring hardware over data analysis and has reneged on its original long-term monitoring plan aimed at unlocking climate's deepest secrets.